Abstract

CUESTA, Francisco  and  BECERRA, María Teresa. Biodiversidad y Cambio climático en los Andes: Importancia del monitoreo y el trabajo regional. Revista Virtual REDESMA [online]. 2012, vol.6, n.1, pp. 19-27. ISSN 1995-1078.

Biodiversity is one of our most vulnerable resources in global environmental change scenarios. Mountain ecosystems harboring this natural wealth are that fragile because climate regulates many of the processes and functions that take place in them. The impact of biodiversity loss will be greater in tropical systems, those with the highest concentration of organisms. To reverse the reported biodiversity loss rates, greater attention to these regions is required, in order to achieve an increase in investment, both public and private, designated to cover knowledge gaps, strengthen institutions and coordínate national and regional policies with binding international frameworks. This article presents a proposal for the development of biodiversity monitoring systems in the Andes and the progresses that have been promoted in the Andean regional framework as part of the implementation of the AAA. The GLORIA Initiative has identified that the implementation of systems of long-term monitoring in coordination with stakeholders in the generation of knowledge, is helpful in the understanding of a problem and in making informed decisions. The development of monitoring systems that generate long-term databases is a priority for the Andean region, to generate knowledge that supports the construction of a baseline to assess changes in biodiversity over time and provide inputs for the development of conservation actions.

Keywords : Biodiversity; paramo; ecosystem; mitigation; adaptation; climate disruption; plankton; habitat; wilderness bush; boreal ecosystems; conservation; monitoring; methodological protocol; resilience.